Taking Care of Your Creativity

Emiko’s Incomplete Guide to Taking Care of Your Creativity

This is a work in progress, and as I encounter better resources, I will update the information.

There are few things that frustrate me more than the trope of the tortured, starving artist. The old truism that diamonds form under pressure may apply in some cases, but an equally valid analogy is that bread rises when it rests. Not everyone reacts to external pressures in the same way, so if you’re not feeling your most creative while sheltering in isolation during a deadly pandemic, that is perfectly understandable. Converting your pain into art is one way to deal with it, but more often than not, pain and stress stymie creativity instead. I have heard more times than I can count about how Vincent Van Gogh did his best work while in mental anguish in an asylum. Maybe that’s true. Maybe. Most of the exquisite paintings he is known for were painted while he was in recovery and feeling better. When he was in the grip of his depression he was unable to be prolifically creative. We will never know for sure if he created his best work while in the asylum, because he died by suicide before we could ever find out. Who is to say that if Van Gogh hadn’t had more effective healthcare he wouldn’t have been able to live a full life and create unimagined works of genius that we never got the chance to see because his life was tragically cut short?

It is incredibly important to maintain your tools, and your greatest tool as an artist is your own body. Many artists suffer from repetitive stress injuries, carpal tunnel, back pain, long term exposure to toxic materials, and mental burnout from stress. We want you to be as successful and productive in this class as possible, but we also want to make sure you take care of yourself. While you are in school it may feel like your GPA is the most important thing in the world, but nothing (and I mean nothing) is so important that you should neglect your well being. As an artist, it is important to learn how to meet deadlines and communicate with clients (and followers if you use social media for marketing) in a professional, consistent manner. However, getting a good grade on a project isn’t worth destroying your body or mental health. That said, here are some resources for protecting your health and your creativity.

 

Sleep

As students, it is very tempting to pull all nighters before an assignment or test is due. However, the best thing you can do for your health, memory, and creativity is to get a good solid eight hours of sleep every night. Sleep is vitally important. It is necessary for the formation of memories, for healing (your health is directly proportional to the amount and quality of your sleep), for mental acuity (one night of sleeplessness impairs your mind in the same manner as being legally drunk), among other things. Sleep deprivation is epidemic, and it lowers your immune system so you're more vulnerable to all sorts of illness. Three nights of good sleep before getting a vaccine makes it significantly more effective because your immune response is able to create more antibodies, whereas receiving less than seven hours of sleep a night damages the efficacy of vaccinations to the point that even with multiple rounds of a vaccine and a booster shot, people are still vulnerable to infection.

I highly encourage everyone to read the book Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker PhD. However, because I know not everyone has the time to read an entire book, here is a good summary of most of the salient points: https://www.grahammann.net/book-notes/why-we-sleep-matthew-walker Links to an external site. 

That summary will give you lots of reasons why to get more and better sleep, but if you just want to trust that you should sleep more, here are some ways to improve the duration and quality of your sleep: https://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-hygiene/healthy-sleep-tips Links to an external site. 

You can also learn more by exploring these resources: https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/resources.html Links to an external site. 

 

Repetitive Stress Injuries

Most artists spend much of their time trying to get into a state of flow where the creative process feels almost effortless. In such a state, it’s easy to forget physical concerns like hunger or discomfort. It can also be frustrating to be interrupted, since the artist might lose their state of flow. However, if you don’t take breaks to stretch and rest, you can injure yourself. It’s hard to tear yourself away from your work right when everything feels like it’s going smoothly, but it’s important to stop and shake out cramping fingers, stretch your aching back, and focus your eyes on something far away so you don’t damage your eyesight. 

  • Try scheduling short breaks to stand up and stretch, or set a timer to remind yourself to do so. 
  • Remember to shake out your hands and avoid gripping your tools too tightly.  
  • Consider stretching before your start working, so if you become absorbed, you’re already warmed up.
  • Set up your workspace to be ergonomic and efficient for whatever type of medium you’re working with. Adjust your space to best accommodate comfort for each project.

Only stretch as far as is comfortable, and be careful to not overdo things (the last thing you want is a different kind of repetitive stress injury!) Here is a good resource for different kinds of hand stretches: https://www.healthline.com/health/chronic-pain/wrist-and-hand-stretches Links to an external site.

 

Toxic Art Materials

Everything, in sufficient quantities, is toxic. For example, when it comes to medicine, there is a fine line between a therapeutic dosage and poison. In art, there are infinite materials that you can make your work out of, and what you choose to use will be determined by availability, cost, considerations of materiality (what does it mean to make a hammer out of fragile porcelain versus if it were made out of chocolate, tissue paper, jell-o, welded nails, or silk brocade?), and toxicity. I do not want to fear monger, but this is something rarely touched on in depth at a lower division level, but it’s very important to think about at the start of your art career. 

If you take a painting class, you will likely have a conversation about toxic pigments like cadmium and lead, and the toxicity of solvents like turpentine. In ceramics you will learn about the dangers of clay dust, and the powdered chemicals in the glaze room. In etching classes, you will discuss the importance of having the vent hood on while the acid bath eats away at your zinc plates and releases fumes. In the woodshop, you must be careful not only of the table, chop, and band saws, but also of the sawdust they produce because breathing particulates can cause lung cancer. 

Every type of art will have its hazards, but they can all be mitigated to different degrees. This topic is too broad to cover every possible substance you might work with, so it’s important to learn how to assess the safety concerns related to each, and take precautions to protect yourself. Below are some general rules of thumb to follow:

  • If you can breathe it in or smell it, work in a well ventilated area and wear a mask (N95* or properly fitted respirator depending on if it is particulate or fumes, respectively)
  • If you can absorb it through your skin, wear gloves.
  • If it involves dangerous equipment you haven’t used before, seek the aid of someone experienced with said equipment
  • If you’re unsure about the toxicity of a material, look up the Safety Data Sheet or SDS (formerly MSDS) to see if it contains any known carcinogens. You can do so just by googling it, or by searching on a website like https://www.msdsonline.com/sds-search/ Links to an external site. 

*Caveat that currently due to the pandemic there can be shortages of PPE for first responders, so people are encouraged to be mindful when purchasing these masks in order that doctors and health care workers can also be protected. Additionally, there has been a proliferation of counterfeit masks flooding the market, as well as price gauging, so do your due diligence when shopping.

 

The school also provides some valuable resources which are at your disposal as part of your tuition expenses. They are here to help you succeed.